So it is time again for another update on Alteil, this week we wanted you to know that we are working furiously towards improving the game for the User experience.

We have completed the major graphic elements for the Battle and Card File, and we are moving on to the sub-menus and pop-ups.

Development has been focusing on finishing up the new-user oriented web page, and is moving on to revamping the registration. When it is ready for the eyeballs of new users, we'll send some advertising its way to scare up some new blood.

And we’re also bringing new employees on board for both development and customer service.

Also we are continuing to work on the API, and below is an explanation on what it will do for you and our very own Logress was kind enough to write it up.

What does the Alteil API mean to me?

By now you've probably heard that we've been spending a lot of our effort on something called an API, and depending on your exposure you're at worst thinking "Huh?" and at best thinking "well that will make the 5 programmers who play Alteil happy, so what about the rest of us?" You may have even seen the user-made card list searcher/viewer floating around that uses the API and while fun, it doesn't necessarily light your imagination on fire, not to mention the fact that someone else actually made it.

But that's precisely what the API is, building tools for building. And enabling more people to build stuff is exactly what’s so exciting. The more of the "hard stuff" taken care of by the API behind the scenes (and in advance, while we make the API), the easier it is to actually make new stuff. And we're not talking about shaving an a few days off of a month long project. We're talking about anyone who is able to make a web page now having the ability to make Folrart… and in as many weeks as the number of months a hardcore programmer would take to do it from scratch. And that's a real, powerful tool.

As a serious player and/or longtime player, you may want to see something like a robust achievement system, Marketplace, alternate gametypes, or the Community tournaments actually coded in. As a first time user coming to the site, you're thinking more in-game like tutorials, better beginner's quest, general introduction, and single player content. As a Game Master, you (I) are (am) thinking, referral rewards, better data collection, automated Events, tools that let you (me) solve individual users problems efficiently (customer support), and being able to change game parameters (presently hardcoded in the flash) for freedom in addressing broader issues (economy, progression, balance).

That's a lot of different wants and needs (and of course, there are a lot more categories than those three examples), and we have the capability to make one thing at a time. Just taking on what seems to be the highest priority issue and working your way down is not always the best answer, especially because the priority changing before a task is done can wreak scheduling and financial havoc. This is where the API comes in. If doing a project that takes X many months is not possible, do a project that makes all other projects take X many weeks instead -- then everything is possible. The best part is: working on the API is working on ALL these projects at the same time, so it is effectively immune to any kind of question of priority. In fact, if you think of something new you'd like to see, we're ALREADY working on it (well, the building blocks to make it, technically) -- it's like the best parts of mind reading and time travel put together, only without the awkwardness of meeting your mom when she was your age (and reading her mind).